Películas de pride

A man running through the forest; a woman diving into a swimming pool; a funeral procession.

That’s all I’m able to grasp from watching the two-minute trailer for Matar a Todos as I scan through the CineFestival website for this year’s film lineup.

I’d like to know more about director Esteban Schroeder’s 2007 political thriller, but the preview is in Spanish (with no subtitles), and the only phrase I can recall my bilingual parents inadvertently teaching me growing up was, “¡Ay, como fregas!” (loosely translated as a way to express frustration).

Yes, I am a third-generation Latino living in the U.S. I like football but not fútbol, refer to snow cones as raspas, cringe at the smell of menudo. I can roll my Rs with the best of them, but I don’t know any of the words when my fiancée sings to her Julieta Venegas CDs in the car.

I’m a living, breathing example of an internal culture clash.

Now, with the 31st annual CineFestival upon us, I suddenly realize I can’t relate to most of the issues depicted in the various feature and documentary films scheduled to screen during the four-day event. I don’t know any undocumented immigrants, nor have I ever found myself caught in the middle of a turf war with a rival gang. I recognize the injustices and corruption occurring across Mexico and Latin America, but don’t consider them more or less significant than the same issues encountered in parts of the world where my ancestry doesn’t extend.

Does this mean CineFestival — the oldest running international Latino film festival in North America — is slowly but surely disconnecting itself from Latinos like me? Are Latinos like me so detached from our indigenous roots that we are indifferent to the struggles of past generations? Are Latinos like me tired of watching Latino filmmakers make movies about the border, day laborers, and poverty-stricken third-world countries?

I sincerely hope not.

As a film critic, I credit CineFestival for selecting some high-quality work on a variety of worldly topics that few other U.S.-based film festivals bother to include in their programs. As a Latino, I credit CineFestival for a lot more. For not losing sight of the festival’s primary focus for over three decades; for being receptive to filmmakers from countries such as Chile, Panama, and Uruguay and allowing them to share their unique Latino experiences; and for proving to Latinos like me that as long as we know where we come from, we’ll never lose pride in our culture.